


The Start of Something

by Delmire



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Dorian Won't Stop Talking, M/M, because it's my favourite, handjobs, lemons/smut, long suffering Bull, only one bed trope
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-18
Updated: 2019-08-18
Packaged: 2020-09-06 09:17:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20289085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Delmire/pseuds/Delmire
Summary: It was all very innocuous really, how Dorian ended up sharing a bed with The Iron Bull. A rural manor with an old fashioned host and only a few guest rooms, Cadash travelling with her entire inner circle towards Val Royeaux, and a typical Ferelden winter storm.But they were warm and dry and relatively comfortable so really, he couldn't complain.





	The Start of Something

**Author's Note:**

> The only one bed fic in which Dorian Wont Stop Talking. 
> 
> Also this is my sisters fault, we were talking about our favourite fanfic tropes and it made me want to write this. Also shoutout to the All things Adoribull FB group, one of the peeps there helped me with the premise for why they are sharing a bed ^^ (Thankyou <3)

Dorian thought back to how he ended up here, standing in the doorway of a rather nice looking room that housed a single, if large, bed. It was all very innocuous really; he couldn’t rightly say that he would have made any different choices even had he been aware of the outcome. Not because of the outcome, Dorian was most certainly not looking forward to sharing a bed, however large, with the hulking beast of a qunari called The Iron Bull. But because making a fuss would most certainly cause Cadash to worry and she had far more to concern her than someone being upset about spending a night warm and dry yet cramped.

They had stopped by the Rosewood’s manor for lunch that morning. They were a rural noble house with not a lot to spare but they had been staunch supporters of the Inquisition since the beginning so Cadash had made it a point to stop by personally. Even more than the Inquisition, they were supporters of Cadash herself, something that could not be said of everyone, so it was no wonder that she wanted to stop by. This would generally not be a problem, in fact Dorian had welcomed the chance for a comfortable rest with open arms, had they not been travelling with the entire inner circle.

Lunch itself was a perfectly pleasant affair, the food simple but comforting and flavourful, not something that could be said of most Ferelden food. It was bliss after their trail rations and their host had actually been pleasant to talk with. The problem had begun as they were about to leave; there was still enough light for a few hours of travel and Cadash was too pragmatic not to make the most of it. Except for the sudden downpouring of torrential rain. Looking back, it had been rather overcast that morning, but when wasn’t the sky grey in Ferelden?

So Cadash’s plan of not burdening their host with a prolonged stay and making the most of their afternoon to travel fizzled out like a drenched campfire. Dorian had been worried that she’d make them push on regardless but dear Lord Rosewood wouldn’t hear of it. No one else would have been able to convince the stubborn dwarf and Dorian strongly suspected that Lord Rosewood was only able to because he was such a genuinely decent person. Any other noble that tried to keep Cadash longer than she wanted would be met with polite refusals that quickly turned blunt if not downright rude.

The issue was, Lord Rosewood said looking a touch embarrassed, that they only had so many guest rooms. Glancing outside at the black clouds, torrential rain, and trees bent by a howling wind, Dorian had decided he didn’t care. The rest of the group seconded his opinion, surprise, surprise. Warm and dry was more than they’d get otherwise, and if he could add comfortable on top of that, well, all the better. With the steely glint in her eye of a no-nonsense mother daring her children to make trouble, Cadash had quickly organised the rooms. The only issue had come when she’d tried to pair Dorian with Sera and Lord Rosewood had been horrified at two people from opposite sexes sharing a room while unmarried.

The attempted explanation from Cadash about a lesbian elf and a gay man had only scandalised Rosewood further, and so, Dorian was stuck with the qunari.

The room was the largest of the guest rooms, one that had been destined for Cadash until she pointed out that she needed far less space than most of their members, especially as she would be the only one with the privacy of her own room. It had that trademark Ferelden homeliness; a fireplace with a well stacked fire, furniture that was well crafted if plain, and thick bedding made for warmth and comfort rather than show. Once, Dorian might have scoffed at such simple comforts, but if nothing else, his months with the Inquisition had given him a healthy respect for any luxuries that could be found.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” Cadash asked, her voice pulling Dorian from his reverie.

Dorian glanced at her worried face in the doorway then turned to gesture at Bull who sat at the edge of the bed. “Lie down,” he clarified at the raised eyebrow as he made his way around to the other side.

Lying down Dorian was greeted with a mattress softer than he’d expected and enough space that he wouldn’t elbow Bull accidentally in the night. It was a little closer than he was comfortable with but it was only one night and he was painfully aware of Cadash’s anxious hovering in the doorway.

“There, we’ll be fine,” Dorian declared as he sat up to smile winningly at the dwarf before eyeing Bull suspiciously. “Though I can feel the heat of you from here. Kaffas, what are you? A walking furnace?”

Reaching out, Dorian placed one of his seemingly permanently frozen hands against Bull’s perpetually bared stomach. The muscles under the grey skin jumped at the contact and _oh _he could feel the firmness of them under the soft layer of fat. But that _warmth_; Bull radiated heat in a way that he didn’t think was possible before now_._ Dorian placed his other hand alongside the first, watching the muscles jump under the skin again; kaffas, the _feel _of those muscles. It was altogether far too attractive and did not bear thinking about. So, he closed his eyes and focused instead on the warmth seeping into his frozen hands.

“My dear Inquisitor, you’ve been holding out on me,” Dorian declared, eyes still closed. He felt as much as heard Bull’s chuckle and sighed in bliss as a warm hand covered his two. “I thought you were sharing a tent with our resident qunari because ‘it makes sense to put the smallest person with the largest for space’. But really, you were just hogging the walking furnace for yourself.”

Opening one eye, he looked down at Bull. He had one arm tucked behind his head with his other massive hand completely covering both of Dorian’s. The grin on his scarred face was borderline smug but Dorian decided he could ignore it this time, if only because the warmth seeping back into his fingers left him feeling rather magnanimous.

“While our lovely Cadash is becoming quite proficient in alchemy, I do have some rather extensive experience in that field myself.” It hurt to think why now that Felix was gone, but before Gereon had decided turning back time was the only option, they had tried numerous alchemical and magical cures. It wasn’t something Dorian was naturally good at but practice had trumped the need for innate skill. “I heard that you have a horn balm recipe, perhaps we could come to an arrangement?”

Without looking away from Dorian, Bull called out, “Hey Boss, no hard feelings but I’ll let you bunk with Sera from now on, I have a mage to cuddle.”

“I said nothing about _cuddling_,” Dorian replied indignantly, “I merely wish to keep warm in this blighted Ferelden winter. The problem with using magic and wielding a staff is that gloves make it all impossibly clumsy, so I have suffered for months with stiff, frozen fingers. Not that the clothing I have managed to procure here keeps me particularly warm regardless.”

“Pretty sure that you’ve found all the non-Ferelden clothing that Ferelden has to offer. As nice as those arms are, maybe try something with sleeves next time,” Bull quipped back, rolling his eye at Dorian’s scoff.

Cadash’s laugh from the doorway drew their attention from the impending argument. “Well, as long as you both don’t cause too much trouble. Otherwise I’ll explain that putting two men who like men together also causes the ‘oh no, they aren’t married!’ drama.”

“I don’t judge people by gender, Boss, I like the ladies too.” Dorian snorted at Bull’s overly sincere tone and Cadash rolled her eyes.

“Yes, yes, we know.” What should have sounded condescending was only impossibly fond as Cadash smiled gently at Bull. “Still, the point remains, though I don’t particularly want to shock our host any further.”

“We’ll be fine,” Dorian assured her again, pressing his hands harder against Bull’s stomach just to feel the resistance and really now, this was awfully distracting. Pulling his hands away, Dorian stood, trying to make it seem like he’d only been pushing himself up rather than taking the unexpected opportunity to feel for himself the rock hard abs that Bull always boasted of. Maker, he hadn’t been exaggerating. “Honestly, I’d be more worried about Cassandra and Sera.”

Dorian felt bad for bringing it up when Cadash grimaced but it was going to be uncomfortable enough without her worrying. He’d started off with very frosty feelings for the qunari spy masquerading as a mercenary. What kind of spy admitted to being a spy? What was he playing at? Worst still, this was the perpetual enemy of his people and the savage beast reputation, while vastly exaggerated for propaganda, had to have a grain of truth in there somewhere.

Yet the more he poked at Bull, the more his suspicions waned and his curiosity piqued. He was far more intelligent than he acted, more open with his thoughts than expected, and so easy to get along with it was almost baffling. Once Dorian would have accused Bull of intentionally befriending him for leverage but he knew better by now, especially after Bull became Tal-Vashoth. What you saw was what you got with Bull, once you accounted for the sharp intelligence that he deliberately played off even now.

It probably would have been easier to share a bed with Bull back then when he was suspicious rather than now. Honestly, in recent weeks their trading of sharp barbs had turned into barely concealed flirting. Distracted by the travel and fighting, it had been easy enough to not think too much on it before. But here, sharing a bed, it was going to be difficult not to think on Bull’s offer of conquering last week and the heat of him still lingered in Dorian’s fingertips.

He’d ignored those thoughts all through dinner but now, as he shooed Cadash out, it was all he could think about.

Closing the door gently behind the dwarf, Dorian turned to Bull with the best winning smile he could affix in place. “If you have no objections, I would rather turn in early. The chance to sleep on something more comfortable than dirt and stones has quite the siren call.”

Bull sat up, swinging his legs off the bed, and stretched causing his shoulders to crack loud enough to make Dorian wince. He gave a contented sigh as he leaned down to start removing his carefully cleaned boots and leg brace. “Yeah, I could do with the extra sleep. Not as young as I use to be.”

“As yes, that is a dilemma I am becoming more acquainted with myself of late,” Dorian replied, busying himself with the pot of water warming over the fire.

It was lukewarm already, the servants must have put it in on just after dinner, but Dorian preferred hot water for washing when he could manage it. With the ease of long practice, he drew a fire rune on each side of the pot and pulled on the fade. He placed one hand in the water, swirling it gently as he waited for it to reach the desired temperature.

“So, if you can do that, how come you can’t keep your fingers from freezing?”

“Hmm?” Dorian turned to find Bull, now fully shirtless, if you could call his harness a shirt, sitting watching him. “Ah, one of the intricacies of magic, I’m afraid. It’s the same reason I can cast fireballs directly from my hand without burning myself. I can apply a heating spell to an object like I did here,” Dorian paused to gesture at the pot before removing his hand from the water and deactivating the runes. He cast about for a cloth as he continued, “But it requires non-flammable material and constant supervision. If I tried to leave it on while I slept, ignoring the impossibility of sleeping while channelling with the fade, it would likely cause a fire to break out. Or if I applied it directly to skin it would burn the flesh rather than warm it. And so, I am forced to more mundane means of keeping warm.”

As Bull mulled over his words, Dorian rather wished he had more to say. Stripping off his clothes one by one, he was aware of Bull’s eye on him. It took every ounce of his willpower to seem unaffected as he prepared for bed. It was more consideration than he’d received from some of the men he’d taken to bed back in Tevinter and he didn’t know what to make of it. When Bull finally moved to join him in washing up as best as they could, curse Vivienne for claiming the one bathtub for the evening, he was relieved. Right up until he realised that Bull had just shamelessly stripped everything off to be entirely naked.

Nothing that Dorian hadn’t seen before, of course. You didn’t travel rough and in close quarters without seeing a lot of your companions unwillingly. At the end of the day, after hours of travel and killing, covered in mud and gore, modesty was the last thing on your mind. Though curiosity had meant Dorian’s eyes had wandered to confirm if the tavern girl’s rumours had been true about Bull and yes, yes they were. Now that he knew Bull better, he was sure that he could have asked directly rather than sneak a peek and the qunari would have just dropped his pants to show him.

Smothering a snort of laughter, Dorian turned to dress in his dubiously clean nightclothes. It wasn’t smothered enough however or perhaps Bull’s hearing was just better than most.

“Something funny, Big Guy?”

“Ah, not really. I was merely thinking about how this compares to bathing on the road and the total lack of modesty you exhibit on a daily basis.”

“Your ‘Vint prudishness is showing,” Bull replied, laughter in his voice. “But here now, I’ve caught you peeking before. You know, if you just asked I’d be happy to give you a private show.”

Dorian scoffed and didn’t deign to respond further, the sentiment too on point with what he’d thought to himself. Thankfully the rest of their nightly preparation was completed quietly, with only the odd comment if they needed the other to move. Soon enough they were both tucked in on opposites side of the bed, the blanket just enough to cover both of them. The crackling of the banked fire filled the room but he couldn’t shake off the feeling of oppressive silence.

Even though they’d already said their respective goodnights and tiredness lingered perpetually at the edges of his mind, Dorian was hyper-aware of the man at his back. He lay curled on his side towards the fire, his eyes tracking the flames as he tried to relax. All he could think about was the heat radiating from Bull, how his warm skin felt against Dorian’s, and the firm muscles contracting under his touch. Around it all was Bull’s deep voice rumbling about conquering and other dirty comments he’d made over their time together.

Dorian tried to relax but every time his thoughts drifted to Bull at his back, he tensed up all over again. What would happen if he fell asleep thinking of such things? He wasn’t some hormonal teenager to get lost in fantasies surely. Yet it had been such a long time that he wasn’t sure that he wouldn’t end up with inappropriate dreams. Vishante kaffas, what if he woke up Bull? How embarrassing that would be!

The thoughts circled round and round as the fire died down until Dorian was a mass of nerves. The tension through his neck was setting off a headache and honestly, why had he agreed to this? He let out a long sigh as he tried once more in vain to relax but Bull shifted in his sleep behind him, rendering the effort useless. He had just decided to take a walk when a huge hand closed over his arm.

“Hey Dorian,” apparently Bull wasn’t as asleep as he appeared, “you okay?”

“Yes, of course. Sorry, did my restlessness wake you?” He tried to sound as nonchalant as possible but truthfully, Dorian wasn’t sure if he’d ever be able to fool the former spy. He’d always worn his thoughts too visibly, even with all the years of Tevinter training. “I was about to take a late night walk, you can go back to sleep.”

He sat up but Bull didn’t remove his hand when he made to get out of bed. Turning, he could just make out the lines of Bull’s face in the dim light but it was too indistinct to tell his expression.

“Ever since Seheron, sleeping beside someone isn’t as easy as it used to be. If they are relaxed and sleeping, it’s fine. But tense and unable to sleep? Tells some instinctual part of me that was honed in that shithole that there’s an attack coming, that it’s not safe here.”

“I’m so sorry,” Dorian whispered, feeling wretched. Here, he’d been struggling with his desire and Bull had been lying beside him suffering and unable to sleep because of something so petty.

“Hey,” Bull said gently, giving Dorian’s arm a brief squeeze. “It’s nothing to apologise over. I just thought I’d offer you a hand.”

Baffled, Dorian shuffled around to face Bull more fully, not that it made a different with their lack of light. “A hand?”

Bull brought his free hand up and Dorian could just make out the waggle of his thick fingers. “My hand. You’re all tense, so I thought a no-strings-attached orgasm might be just what you need to loosen up and get some sleep.”

Dorian choked on his breath at the suggestion. “You­—”

“Don’t worry about me,” Bull said blithely, probably misinterpreting what Dorian was about to say on purpose, the brute. “I get plenty out of this and you don’t need to worry about anything other than relaxing. You know, I’ve thought about this and I reckon you’d be really loud in bed but Tevinter has trained you to be quiet.”

“You’ve thought about that?!”

Bull chuckled at Dorian’s scandalised tone and let his hand drop from its place at his elbow. “It’s all I think about when you’re walking in front of me up all those hills in those tight pants. Fuck, even that new skirt of yours hugs that delicious ass. It’s hard to think of anything else if I’m not walking in front with the Boss.”

“It’s not a skirt!” he retorted, because apparently that was all his acclaimed intelligence could come up with in such an unexpected situation.

“Yeah, bustling, whatever. Look, all I’m saying is that if you want a hand, I’m happy to help. You seem pretty pent up and nothing helps relax you before bed like a good orgasm. But if you’d rather I drop it and go for a walk, I won’t bring it up again. Up to you, Big Guy.”

“I—” Dorian began but cut himself off when he realised he didn’t know how to respond. Instead, he took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

If he thought about it honestly, all bullshit aside, it was a tempting offer. Dorian knew that Bull would drop it and never mention it again if he asked, and if he agreed but asked him to keep quiet, he would. If he agreed and said nothing, well, that was a recipe for everyone finding out but he knew that already. There was always something so sincere and refreshing in the way that Bull dealt with sex. Dorian wished he could be so open and free in his approach but years of ingrained habit could not be broken so easily. But, perhaps, he could start here.

Temptation _had_ always been a weak point.

“I will take you up on your offer, on the condition that you don’t run your big mouth in the morning.”

“Done.”

With that, Bull sat up and gently pushed Dorian to lie down again. After a bit of shuffling they ended up with Dorian lying on his back and Bull propped up on his side, his elbow next to Dorian’s head, arm stretched out above the pillow. In the dim light, Bull loomed above him and that sight alone was enough to set Dorian’s pulse racing. When a giant hand settled on his stomach he gasped, his body tensing in anticipation.

“Just relax,” Bull rumbled and kaffas, the heat radiating from the qunari was beyond belief. He hardly had need for the blankets settled just below their waists. Bull’s hand moved lower, and Dorian gasped again as thick fingers cupped his quickly thickening erection through his loose sleep pants. “Heh, this excited already, Big Guy?”

Similar words had been said to Dorian before with varying levels of condescension and judgement. But he felt none of the embarrassment he would have expected, how could he when Bull sounded so downright pleased? There was no derision in his voice, just genuine pleasure that Dorian was this worked up already. Almost as though Bull took it as a personal compliment and wasn’t that downright eye opening in itself.

Without presumable, Bull removed his hand to start pushing the pants out of the way and Dorian could appreciate a man who got straight to business. “You got any oil, Big Guy? Or any fancy mage tricks up your sleeve?”

“Why of course,” Dorian replied with all the superiority he could manage while already slightly out of breath. Really, it had been too long if just the anticipation and a simple touch could render him into this state. “To a teenaged boy, summoning ice or fire is altogether far too plebeian. There are far more useful substances and the knowledge is passed down with utmost secrecy from senior to junior.”

Bull chuckled as Dorian grabbed his hand and with a quick tug on the fade created the familiar slimy substance that he’d been making use of for the better part of the last two decades. It was perfectly serviceable if you didn’t think too hard about exactly what it could be.

“It has a great many uses actually,” Dorian continued conversationally as he wiped the excess off surreptitiously on the side of the bed. “But personally, I prefer a nice lightly scented oil if I have the option.”

Bull snorted and Dorian could just make out him squishing the substance between his fingers to get a feel for it. “Of course you do,” he replied fondly as he finally reached down to take Dorian in hand again, this time with nothing between them. “This is pretty handy though. Heh, get it?”

Any reply Dorian might have had was lost in a gasp as pleasure flooded through him. Bull’s hand easily engulfed his entire length and while his movements were slow, testing, his grip was firm and confident. Fuck, Dorian had forgotten how _good_ it felt to have someone else’s hands on you. But more than that, was the time Bull took with each careful, unhurried stroke.

“Relax,” Bull murmured as he shuffled closer, pulling Dorian until his shoulder was against his warm chest. “I’ve got you, just leave it all to me.”

Dorian wanted to reply, to tell Bull that he was hardly one to sit back and let his partner do all the work but stopped himself. This wasn’t a competition, nor even sex as he knew it. Bull had offered to get him off and all Dorian had to do was let him. This was all give on Bull’s part and the novelty of that alone was enough to get Dorian to comply. He mentally let go of the last of the tension and melted back into the bed, little gasps springing free unrestrained.

“That’s it,” Bull practically purred and Dorian could feel the rumble of his words. “Good boy.”

Dorian scoffed, some of his odd meekness evaporating in the face of the ridiculous endearment. “I am not a boy, thank you. I have a name; I would recommend you use that instead.”

“Don’t like that one, huh? Sorry, it just sorta slipped out.”

Bull change his grip on Dorian’s length and _oh_ that was good but each movement was just too maddeningly slow. He’d been so straight to the point at first so what was this teasing about now? The groan that slipped free was just as much frustration as pleasure.

“Bull,” Dorian gasped out and really, he sounded a little too breathy in his own ears. This was going to go straight to Bull’s ego, he was sure of it. “If you would just get on with it, the point was to get to sleep tonight, not tomorrow.”

“Now see, that’s not how this is gonna work.” Even as Dorian squirmed in his grip, Bull just carried on at the same pace. “A quick and dirty handjob is only going to take the edge off. Now if you really want to sleep well, that requires you to be so blissed out and relaxed that you just sorta pass out.”

“That’s not going to happen anytime tonight at this rate, so move please.”

“Oh, you’ll cum,” Bull said darkly, the deep grating rumble of the words going straight to Dorian’s dick. “When I’ve decided you’re good and ready.”

He spluttered a noise that was partially indignant, part moan as he squirmed in place. “Really, Bull? Going to play the dominant card?” A small moan interrupted his words and it was hard to focus on what he wanted to say when Bull’s hand felt so good. Still, he needed to get the words out because it could feel so much better. “I don’t believe that’s what I agreed to.”

“I promised you a _good_ orgasm and you’re trusting me to take care of you so I’m not going to half-ass this.”

The words struck something in Dorian and he didn’t immediately have a response. _Trust._ Bull had spoken offhandedly about trust and sex before in some of their many late night discussions but Dorian had dismissed the sentiment as, well, sentiment. You didn’t need to trust someone to sleep with them. Or really, he would have remained a virgin right up until… right now, really, and wasn’t that surprising. Dorian did trust the great lummox though he’d deny it flatly if asked.

“Trust, huh,” Dorian muttered, temporarily distracted by his thoughts. “What an odd beast you are.”

“Dorian,” Bull said, pulling him from his thoughts, exasperation warring with fondness in his voice. “Can I kiss you?”

“Oh. Is this because you want to experience my excellent technique or purely to get me to shut up? Because quite frankly if you stopped teasing me then I imagine, what with all your acclaimed sexual prowess, you will be able to render me speechless. It is, in fact, quite possible to achieve, contrary to popular belief.”

Bull huffed out a laugh, his hand unfortunately slowing in its ministrations on Dorian’s dick and he shifted his hips to draw his attention back to it. “Both?”

“Hmm, well in that case I suppose I can grant you permission to—”

He was cut off as Bull leaned down to capture his lips. Dorian wasn’t sure what he expected, he’d never kissed a qunari before, but the wide, warm lips pressed to his didn’t feel all that unusual. A small amount of adjustment was necessary, but once they got the angle right, Dorian threw all thought out the window. The feel of Bull’s body above him, pressing him deeper into the mattress was more erotic than he anticipated and all at once he became hyper aware of every place their bodies touched.

It was like all he could do was feel, like there was no space left for anything else in his head.

Instinctively Dorian reached out and wrapped his arms around Bull’s neck, his blunt nails digging into his shoulders. He needed to hold on to something, needed the contact to ground him in the face of the pleasure wracking his body. It was building rapidly now, heat pooling low in his gut and winding tighter and tighter. Nothing that Bull was doing had changed but somehow the slow, consistent pace was causing the pleasure rushing through him to build in a way he hadn’t expected. Curse the big lummox, apparently he did know what he was doing.

His limbs began to twitch, spasms of uncontrollable movement, as his body struggled to deal with the heat suffusing him. “Bull,” he whined, the word swallowed by the lips against his.

Bull shifted, breaking their kiss much to Dorian’s disappointment, so that he was sitting across his thighs, using his great bulk to hold Dorian in place. He loomed above Dorian in the dark, the dim outline all he could make out. The sheer size of him stole what little breath he had left but instead of intimidating, it only sparked the heat further.

“Bull,” Dorian repeated, demanding this time as he reached out to pull the qunari closer.

He caught a soft ‘_fuck’ _before their lips crashed together again and wasn’t that interesting. Dorian couldn’t help a breathy huff of laughter, pleased that he’d pulled such a vulgar word said so reverently from Bull. Moaning, louder now as he approached tipping point, Dorian arched up off the bed to press himself against the firm warmth above him.

“_Bull_!” A string of babbled Tevene curses followed as Dorian lost his ability to mentally translate what he wanted. Hopefully the nails biting demandingly into the thick grey flesh would get his point across.

“Just let go,” Bull replied, his own voice flatteringly rough above him. He seemed to give up on maintaining their, frankly rather sloppy at this point, kiss to focus on _finally_ bringing Dorian over the edge. “I’ve got you.”

From there, it didn’t take long for the coiling pleasure to reach snapping point and Dorian threw his head back as he came, a tremor running through him at the intensity of it. _Fuck_ it was good, maybe he should have taken Bull up on his flirtatious offers earlier.

“Fucking _gorgeous_,” Bull muttered as he leaned down to steal a final kiss.

Dorian snorted in amusement as he melted back into the mattress. His limbs were delightfully heavy and the pleasant haze that surrounded him suggested that sleep would be far easier to find now. “As flattered as I am, you can’t even see anything.”

“I can see plenty, Qunari have better low-light vision than humans.”

He filed that little titbit of information for later as Bull got up, the loss of his warmth immediately noticeable. Even so, he couldn’t bring himself to move to fix the problem. Eyes closed, Dorian whined when a now cold, damp cloth wiped him clean, but he couldn’t find the will to protest further. As Bull pulled the blankets back up over him, Dorian succumbed to the sweet oblivion of sleep that had been eluding him.

***

Waking up was rarely such a pleasant affair. Warm, comfortable, and well rested as a combination unheard of. Even better, there was a feeling of bone deep satisfaction that took Dorian a long moment to place. More awake now, memories of the night prior came flooding back. Looking around Dorian noted that he was alone in the room, though the fire looked to have been tended relatively recently.

He got up slowly, taking his time to get ready for the day ahead. It didn’t appear too late, the sun still low in the sky and no frantic dwarf busting open the door to tell him to hurry up. How refreshing to wake up on time and relaxed. The sheer novelty left his mood lighter than usual and it was with a noticeable spring in his step that Dorian headed towards the dining area in search of breakfast. Only some of his companions were up when he arrived and his cheerful greeting earned a few raised eyebrows.

“You’re awful sparkly this morning, Sparkler,” Varric commented around a yawn. “Something good happen last night?”

“Why yes!” Dorian exclaimed with mock enthusiasm as he slipped into a vacant chair next to Cadash. “I got to sleep in a real bed, with a comfortable mattress, and enough blankets that I was truly warm for the first time since I arrived in Ferelden. Not even the qunari’s snoring could stop my blissful sleep.”

“Hey now,” Bull interjected reproachfully, though the knowing smile he shot Dorian belied his tone. “I don’t snore.”

Cadash and Dorian snorted as one, both had been privy to Bull’s druffalo-like snoring that occurred after a night of drinking. Thankfully there had been no drinking last night and Dorian had slept the entire night uninterrupted after their little escapade. Catching Bull watching him, Dorian raised a challenging eyebrow only to receive a slow, deliberate wink in response. He had to roll his eyes; the big oaf, you can’t wink with one eye.

Breakfast carried on as normal and Dorian caught himself idly thinking about ‘next time’ in the lull of the conversation. Apparently, a small taste hadn’t been quite enough or rather it had been so good that he wanted more.

Perhaps, if Bull was so inclined, this might just be the start of something interesting.


End file.
